Bordism of diffeomorphisms and related topics. With an appendix by Neal W. Stoltzfus (Q795373)

The author computed the group \(\Delta_ m\) of bordism classes of orientation preserving diffeormorphisms of closed oriented m-manifolds in Topology 15, 353-361 (1976; Zbl 0335.57021) for m odd and in his 1976 Bonn Habilitationsschrift ''Bordismusgruppen von Diffeomorphismen'' [see also Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 82, 759-761 (1976; Zbl 0329.57014)] for m even. This monograph collects these results and generalizes them to manifolds with (B,f) structure and other orientation conditions. There are three basic invariants of the bordism class of a diffeomorphism f: \(M\to M\), namely the bordism class of M in \(\Omega_ m\), the bordism class of the mapping torus \(M_ f\) in \(\Omega_{m+1}\), and, when \(m=2n\) is even, the Witt class in \(W_{\epsilon}({\mathbb{Z}},{\mathbb{Z}})\), \(\epsilon =(-1)^ n\), of the induced isometry of the intersection form in middle dimensional homology. The author's main result is that these invariants are sufficient for \(m\geq 3\) (the case \(m=3\) was first completed by \textit{P. Melvin} [Topology 18, 173-175 (1979; Zbl 0418.57014)]). Moreover, the relations among these invariants are determined; namely that for \(m=4k-1\) the signature of \(M_ f\) is zero and that for \(m=4k\) the signature of M equals the signature of the Witt invariant and the de Rham invariant \(w_ 2w_{n-1}\) of \(M_ f\) is also an invariant of the Witt invariant. The results for manifolds with a (B,f)-structure and for different orientability conditions are similar; in the (B,f) case the result is not complete: a certain finite cyclic subgroup, which might appear for \(m=4k- 2\), is not fully determined. Applications are described for the computation of SK-groups (cutting and pasting groups [c.f. \textit{U. Karras}, the author, \textit{W. D. Neumann} and \textit{E. Ossa}, Cutting and pasting of manifolds; SK-groups (1973; Zbl 0258.57010)]). \textit{F. Quinn} [Topology 18, 55-73 (1979; Zbl 0425.57010)] gave another solution of the bordism of diffeomorphisms problem. His computation involved the Witt group \(A({\mathbb{Z}})\) (denoted \(W^ S({\mathbb{Z}})\) by Quinn) of unimodular bilinear forms with no symmetry condition. An appendix by N. W. Stoltzfus explicates the relationship between the two computations. The algebraic part of this relationship is the following interesting pair of exact sequences which generalize the well-known connection between the Seifert matrix and monodromy of a fibered knot: \[ 0\to A({\mathbb{Z}})\to W_{+1}({\mathbb{Z}},{\mathbb{Z}})\to {\mathbb{Z}}\oplus {\mathbb{Z}}/2\to 0\quad 0\to {\mathbb{Z}}\to A({\mathbb{Z}})\to W_{-1}({\mathbb{Z}},{\mathbb{Z}})\to 0. \] These and related Witt groups arise also in the study of knot concordance and elsewhere and have been studied by \textit{N. W. Stoltzfus} [Mem. Am. Math. Soc. 192 (1977; Zbl 0366.57005)], the reviewer [Bonner Math. Schriften 100 (1977; Zbl 0368.10020)], \textit{M. Warshauer} [The Witt group of degree k maps and asymmetric inner product spaces, Lect. Notes Math. 914 (1982; Zbl 0491.10017)], and \textit{M. A. Kervaire} [Lect. Notes Math. 197, 83-105 (1971; Zbl 0225.57006)].